'Snakes and Ladders'

Museum of Art and Culture Lake Macquarie

June 8th - August 4th 2024

Breaking News Breaking News

Petit Palais Garden, Paris 102-x-76-cm-Oil-Pastel-on-linen-Bernard-Ollis-Picture-John-Fotiadis

'Fascinating Places' - Harvey Galleries, Seaforth

7 - 19 MARCH 2024. (EXHIBITION PARTY 15 March) (ARTIST TALK 2-3pm 9 & 16 MARCH)

Artist Statement:

“One of the main reasons I enjoy travelling is that whenever you step beyond your familiar surroundings you see things from a new perspective.

In short you see things more intensely.

This has a lot to do with observing something for the first time.

For a visual artist, it’s the moment of truth. My creative imagination starts to run in overdrive when I am faced with new challenges, and how to make sense of it. Depending on where I am, for example, a Bridge in Paris, a square in Sicily, a suburban garden in Sydney, or the Daintree National Park in Queensland.

I ask questions like; What shape is that lamp post? What kind of pattern exists on that roadside kerb? How many arches exist to support that Bridge in Paris? How does that leaf differ in shape from the previous one? How does the contours on that balustrade manage to repeat itself in harmony? Why does the colour of the shadow from the veranda seem so intense? How can I make sense of those patterns forming in the water with my pencil?

All these burning questions can be answered by looking and then, not trusting your first judgment, looking again. The answers of course are many fold and as unpredictable as the questions. However, the best form of answer might well be to draw, paint and, photograph, again and again, until you feel you have some kind of understanding or interpretation, that leads you on to the next question. That in essence is the act of creativity. Forward moves, backward and sideways moves, and then of course realising that what you did in the first instance, was the one that you should have trusted.

These considerations may seem small, even trivial, but they are the very fabric of visual exploration.

Sometimes it is a combination of, not just what you see, but how you feel about it.

All of these works on exhibition are a culmination of long and deep responses to significant places and environments that I have chosen to visit. For me, they are an antidote to the pessimism that abounds and a personal celebration of all that is positive in the human spirit.”

 

Pictured above: Petit Palais Garden Paris, 102 x 76 cm, Oil, Oil Pastel on linen, Bernard Ollis, Photograph - John Fotiadis

 



Darwin Daze a book by Bernard Ollis

 

Bernard's recent ebook now in an expanded hardback edition

A 26 year old graduating student from The Royal College of Art, London, goes on the journey of a lifetime to take up the position of lecturer in drawing and painting at The Darwin Community College, Northern Territory, Australia.
The year is 1976 and the young, enthusiastic, but naive young man travels from Chelsea (a suburb in London) to Casuarina (a suburb of Darwin), Nothing could prepare the young adventurer for what would lay ahead.
The memoirs are accompanied by photographs, paintings and oil pastel works, many in full colour. In addition, Bernard has produced pen and ink drawings specifically for this book.


 

The Kindle edition of Darwin Daze is available now from amazon.com.au priced at $15.99

The hardback edition is available in retailers now with a RRP of $39.00

ISBN: 9780646857374 Pages: 240 Dimension: 237mm X 160mm Publisher: Martin Lane Design, Distributed by Peribo.


Night View - St Michael 50x76cm Oil on Belgian linen